Bessette/Pitney’s AMERICAN GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS: DELIBERATION, DEMOCRACY AND CITIZENSHIP reviews the idea of "deliberative democracy." Building on the book, this blog offers insights, analysis, and facts about recent events.
Since President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the 1965 Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) into law, K–12 public schools have assumed an increasingly prominent role in American society, now constituting the nation’s core strategy for promoting social and economic mobility across generations.
Over the same period, the US has undertaken ever-intensifying school reform and steadily increased spending, in ongoing attempts to raise the chronically low achievement of the disadvantaged children targeted by the ESEA.
Yet more than one-third of lower-income eighth graders still fail to demonstrate even minimal competence in reading and math, and wide achievement gaps persist in every state.
Pursuing a broader range of strategies to advance child well-being may yield greater value than continued reform efforts and further increased spending on public schools.
